After a two-year decline in reports of smart home technical support issues, consumers in Q1 reported more technical problems with smart home systems and devices, Parks Associates blogged Wednesday: Networked cameras, smart water leak detectors and smart thermostats are categories with increased support issues over the past six to 12 months. Also, 34 percent of smart door lock owners experienced issues when attempting to fix a problem, a 22 percent year-on-year jump, and 35 percent of smart video doorbell owners reported support problems.

Cognitive Systems’ Aura smart home security system will begin shipping Thursday, after a CES launch, said the company. Aura detects unauthorized motion through disruption in a home’s wireless signals and then notifies users via mobile app, it said. The two-piece system -- with a sensor and hub -- is said to cover 2,500 square feet. Preorder price is $399, going up to $499 when shipping begins.

TP-Link’s smart bulbs can be voice-controlled by Amazon’s Alexa via the TP-Link Kasa smart home skill, said the company in a Friday announcement. Consumers can use Alexa voice commands to change the color of LB130 smart bulbs and the white-tuning of LB120 and LB130 smart bulbs, it said. They can change the lighting mood, making lights warm white in a living space or cool white for an office, it said, and they can adjust brightness levels and change lighting colors for a party or sports viewing.

Philips Lighting partnered with the NBA's Golden State Warriors on an LED smart lighting collaboration for Hue systems, a Philips announcement said Monday. Philips’ Hue systems can be synced with Warriors’ games via the team’s mobile app, enabling the lights to flash colors at the beginning of a game and, if the team wins, at the end of a game, Philips said. Warriors Chief Marketing Officer Chip Bowers said the app brings a personal way for fans to be part of the game and “to showcase the future of home entertainment.” Fans can connect Hue to apps via IFTTT (If This Then That) and trigger actions to boost the sports viewing experience, Philips said. A major in-game update could trigger the Hue lights to flash, for example, it said.

Correction: Control4 currently has Amazon Alexa integration in 6,500 homes (see 1703300020).

Best Buy is selling Merkury Innovations’ Geeni line of smart home products, said Geeni Monday. Geeni smart bulbs, cameras and power solutions are controllable via a cloud-based app without the need for a hub, said the company. The line supports Amazon’s Alexa voice engine and the company recently completed beta testing for Google Home integration that’s expected to publish in the next 30 days, it said. Geeni products can be controlled in a group and in scenes. Smart bulbs range from $25 to $35 and the Geeni smart camera is $90, said the company.

CTA is offering smart home technology installers a security checklist for internet-connected devices, it said in Thursday announcement. The Connected Home Security Checklist tool, based on CTA’s Device Security Best Practices white paper, details security protocols for installing and configuring products to help protect consumers’ smart home devices from malware or hackers, it said. The mobile-capable tool can be used on job sites to give installers a quick reference for industry practices for passwords, networks, modems and routers, virtual private networks and Z-Wave and ZigBee protocols, said CTA. It also provides an email feature to let consumers know about work completed in their homes, including an assessment of the security steps performed and recommendations. The industry group recognizes that “trust is at the heart of the smart home business, and to succeed we need to equip experienced installers with the latest best practices to grow their businesses and provide consumers with the peace of mind they want,” said Dan Fulmer, CTA TechHome board member.

Pro Control began shipping an interface module for monitoring and controlling Z-Wave-enabled systems and devices such as lighting controls, door locks and thermostats, it announced. The solutions include the company's own line of switches and modules that manage lighting elements locally and from a Pro Control user interface, it said.

Eighty-nine percent of U.S. broadband homes use at least one smartphone that in many cases serves as the foundation for connected consumer experiences across multiple IoT markets, said a Parks Associates report. “Quick and easy access to the Internet is changing how consumers interact with technology, driving new innovations and the adoption of new products and services in multiple verticals,” said analyst Jennifer Kent. Just over a quarter of U.S. broadband households, over 26 million, own at least one smart home device, said Parks. The share of sales of stand-alone smart home devices increased for more than a dozen smart home product categories between 2014 and 2016, which could indicate a transition beyond early adopters and high-income households toward the mass market, said Kent. For smart home companies to continue to grow consumer interest and adoption, they’ll need to refine and promote the value propositions for their solutions to meet the needs of their customers, said Parks.

D-Link began selling a HomeKit-enabled webcam at Apple.com Wednesday, with plans for Apple Store availability later this month, said the company. The Omna 180 Cam HD ($199) is the first in D-Link’s HomeKit family of devices and includes end-to-end encryption and authentication between the camera and an iPhone or iPad, said D-Link. When activity is detected, users will receive a notification on their lock screen, delivered by the Apple Home app, that shows a live feed from the camera. Users can also access the feed from the Omna remotely via the app to monitor their home in real time, it said.